Unique Couple Depicted in ESPN 30 for 30 Short: ‘The Schedule Makers’

In a new, 30 for 30 short dubbed, “The Schedule Makers”, ESPN goes behind the scenes with Holly and Henry Stephenson, a normal but extremely intelligent couple from New Jersey, that up until 2005 season were in charge of each and every MLB schedule; the scheduling gig started for the talented duo in 1981. Now that the weekend is upon us, I can’t even begin to imagine the obstacles surrounding this daunting task. 30 teams, 162 games, and a ton of travel issues. No thank you.

The season’s schedule for major league baseball affects the lives and moods of millions of Americans. Each year executives and managers ridicule the logic, sportswriters and broadcasters question the sanity, and athletes and fans cast blame. Yet not many people know how it is that the MLB schedule is figured out, and even fewer have any idea what is involved. The masterminds for 25 years behind this massive logistical undertaking were Henry and Holly Stephenson. A husband and wife duo working out of an upstairs bedroom in their Staten Island home with a computer, a pencil and a great deal of cooperation. How did this mom-and-pop team ever end up with the daunting and thankless job of MLB scheduling? This is the story of how the Stephensons landed their first MLB contract and became “The Schedule Makers.”